# Fabian Gerlinghaus

> Fabian Gerlinghaus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cellares, a South San Francisco biotech company building the world's first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) for cell therapy. An aerospace engineer turned life-science entrepreneur, he co-founded Cellares in 2019 after spotting a critical gap: FDA-approved CAR-T therapies were sitting ready while patients died on waitlists because manufacturing couldn't scale. His Cell Shuttle platform — a fully automated, factory-in-a-box system processing 16 patient batches simultaneously — has attracted $630M in funding, a $380M partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, and FDA's Advanced Manufacturing Technology designation. TIME magazine named it one of 2025's most important inventions.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Cellares
- **Organizations:** Cellares, Synthego, Technical University of Munich, Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM)
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** Master's in Aerospace Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Honors Degree in Technology Management, Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM), Munich, Visiting Researcher (haptic teleoperation of robots in space), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Cellares in 2019 and raised over $630M in total capital, Secured $380M global manufacturing agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb (2024), Obtained FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) designation for the Cell Shuttle — first ever for a cell therapy manufacturing platform

## Career timeline

- **~2014** — Visiting researcher at Stanford University, working on haptic teleoperation of robots in space
- **2014** — Joined Synthego as an early employee (4-5 person garage startup), ultimately becoming Chief Innovation Officer
- **2014-2019** — At Synthego, co-invented proprietary RNA synthesizer technology for CRISPR-Cas9; helped grow company from 5 to 240+ employees
- **January 2019** — Met with Omar Kurdi in Palo Alto to discuss founding a company focused on cell therapy manufacturing
- **April 2019** — Co-founded Cellares with Omar Kurdi and Alex Pesch
- **August 2019** — Cellares incorporated with first capital injection
- **2021** — Cellares raised $100M+, grew to 100 employees, unveiled the Cell Shuttle platform publicly
- **August 2023** — Launched the world's first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) and first Smart Factory
- **April 2024** — Secured $380M global manufacturing partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb
- **2024** — Cell Shuttle received FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) designation — first for any cell therapy manufacturing platform
- **2025** — TIME magazine named Cell Shuttle one of the most important inventions of 2025; Cellares expanded to ~300 employees
- **January 2026** — Raised $257M Series D led by BlackRock and Eclipse, bringing total funding to $630M

## Achievements

- Co-founded Cellares in 2019 and raised over $630M in total capital
- Secured $380M global manufacturing agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb (2024)
- Obtained FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) designation for the Cell Shuttle — first ever for a cell therapy manufacturing platform
- TIME magazine named the Cell Shuttle one of 2025's most important inventions
- Built Bridgewater Smart Factory (New Jersey) to cGMP-compliance
- Simultaneously constructing five smart factory facilities globally across US, Europe, and Japan
- Co-invented RNA synthesizer technology at Synthego, helping grow the company from 5 to 240+ employees
- Helped bring CRISPR/Cas9 products to market ahead of competitors at Synthego
- Named to The Medicine Maker Power List (2023 and 2025)
- Cell Shuttle processes up to 16 simultaneous patient batches with 10x productivity gains over manual manufacturing

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Cellares raised $257M Series D led by BlackRock and Eclipse, bringing total funding to $630M. Gerlinghaus stated the company is on a clear path toward becoming a public company.
- **2026-01** — Cellares expects to support clinical manufacturing in the first half of 2026, with commercial-scale manufacturing beginning in 2027.
- **2025-10** — Fabian Gerlinghaus featured in The Medicine Maker's Power List Personified feature (2025 edition).
- **2025-01** — TIME magazine named the Cell Shuttle one of 2025's most important inventions.
- **2024-04** — Cellares secured a $380M global manufacturing partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb for CAR-T therapy production across US, Europe, and Japan.

## Links

- Website: https://cellares.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabian-gerlinghaus
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/gerlinghausf

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/fabian-gerlinghaus
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-26